Anti-Strategy: Is Your Company Guilty of It? – Part 1

Anti-Strategy is an interesting phenomenon. Have you ever wondered why someone in the company, a peer, a direct report or even the boss has done something that just didn’t make sense? Maybe it was reorganization, a change in product direction, adding new people that should be in other organizations, or worse yet, done nothing? Of course you have. You are probably guilty of it yourself, although you may not realize it or don’t want to admit it. Smart, successful and highly compensated people often do things that don’t seem to fit or support the program or your perspective of the direction of the company.

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If your Strategic Execution™ is hit-and-miss, you are not alone—only 10% of all companies execute well to their strategies. There are lots of contributors to companies’ poor execution to strategy, but one that holds many back is organizational readiness. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL football team set a record for pro sports futility in its first two years—26 consecutive losses in 1976 and 1977. At a press conference after the record-breaking 20^th loss the late John McKay, then the Buccaneer’s coach, was asked, “Coach, how do you feel about your team’s execution?” McKay quipped, …Read More

Yankee Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up somewhere else.” A business interpretation: strategy needs to guide your efforts and your company’s Strategic Execution™– how effectively you implement your strategy — distinguishes whether you’ll win or be an also-ran. One of the ways effective businesses stay on course is understanding in detail where they have been, what successes they have had in execution and where they have come up short. All too often companies …Read More

There are lots of reasons why failure in Strategic Execution™ is so common and why only 10% of all companies execute their strategic plans effectively. Many companies do strategic planning, and may even have a well-documented process.

However, the process itself has become a hollow drill—a once-a-year exercise to get a financial plan to the bank and pacify the board—instead of a meaningful way to assess the business and set a meaningful course. As well, many …Read More

Many companies have a strategic plan and ALL companies have a culture. If strategy and culture aren’t integrated, you ARE UNDER-DELIVERING! Is your company poised to Deliver a Culture of Stretegic Execution? If you ask a business leader about their Strategic Plan, the typical response is… “It’s around here somewhere,just let me look.” They believe a Strategic Planning Process is expensive; costing time, resources, and promises. A scalable and sustainable Strategic Execution Process is even more time consuming and costly. Many companies fail to deliver the results and promises contained within their Strategic Plan and that’s usually a Culture issue. …Read More

En español Fontana, CA – Locally owned Americas Integrated announced today that it will be merging with Group50^®, a consulting company that specializes in strategic execution, manufacturing and distribution, effective October 1, 2013. Americas Integrated president, Jorge Silva, expects this merger to improve current client confidence with broader services and additional world class resources, and widen Group50’s customer base globally. In addition to the already vast number of services offered by Group50^®, the new venture will …Read More

Performance Management is a critical part of a company’s business strategy. As shown in Level 2 of the Business Hierarchy of Needs®, performance management is the bridge between strategy and results. As we have spoken to senior executives around the United States, we have found that their perception of performance management is more tactical than strategic.  We have found that functional organizations also see performance management as a check the box activity.

Most companies view “performance management” …Read More

Successful businesses work. There are many definitions of success in business. One component common to all business success definitions is the generation of positive cash flow in the short-, mid- and long-term. Many variables factor into a business’s ability to generate positive cash flow; from an operations perspective, none are more critical than culture, strategy and execution. In this post we will focus on …Read More

Over the past few years it has been well documented that technology can significantly improve employee engagement and performance management.  We see that networking has significantly increased the ability of people to accelerate their business dealings and personal relationships. Just about everyone in the workforce is familiar …Read More

Recently I was asked to comment on the question: Who is or should be responsible for Strategic Planning? Several people responded. Here is my response:
Of course I agree that the CEO is the ultimate decider of the final strategic plan. Strategy is the CEOs primary job and also one of the key areas of attention for the Board. While I agree with the philosophy of the other respondents, I don’t believe the responses take the issue of “who” to a deep enough level.

I respectfully suggest that the CEO get input from many fronts. Unfortunately, too often, the CEO’s executives are telling him/her just what they think the CEO wants to hear …Read More